Adrian didn't rush it.
That was the unsettling part.
No sharp summons.
No authority-laced commands.
No cold meetings framed like interrogations.
He waited.
Watched Nyra move through ValeTech like she wasn't carrying ghosts anymore. Watched the way she laughed short, real. The way she lingered half a second longer before leaving. The way she didn't look over her shoulder.
When he finally spoke to her, it wasn't as a CEO.
It was almost… casual.
"Coffee," he said one evening as they crossed paths near the elevators. Not a question. Not an order. A suggestion, tossed lightly. "You look like you've been surviving on caffeine substitutes."
Nyra blinked once. Studied him. This version of Adrian quiet, unreadable, pretending ease was new.
"I don't drink coffee with my bosses," she said coolly.
A corner of his mouth twitched. "Then don't."
She should've walked away.
Instead, she found herself nodding.
The café was dim. Late hour. Low music humming like it didn't want to interrupt anything important. They sat across from each other, steam curling between them.
Adrian didn't talk about work.
That was the second mistake.
He asked about Zurich. About Elias. About the rooftop view she preferred. Listened like answers mattered, like he wasn't cataloguing her reactions.
Nyra kept it light. Safe. Surface-level rebellion wrapped in sarcasm.
She left before it could sink in.
That should've been the end.
It wasn't.
Two nights later, it was drinks.
"Team morale," he said dryly. "Unofficial."
She laughed. "You don't do unofficial."
"People surprise themselves," he replied.
The bar was darker than the café. Louder. Looser. Adrian without a tie felt illegal dangerous in a quiet, controlled way. He drank slowly. Watched her over the rim of his glass like he was trying to solve a paradox.
Nyra drank faster than usual.
That's when it happened.
The smell.
Tobacco.
Sharp. Burnt. Familiar.
Her fingers twitched before her brain caught up.
She froze.
She hadn't smoked in days. Hadn't wanted to. Hadn't missed it.
Yet suddenly suddenly her chest felt tight. Her jaw clenched. Her body remembered something her mind had let go of.
Adrian noticed immediately.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
She nodded too fast. "Yeah. Just air."
She stepped outside, night wrapping around her like a held breath. Neon lights blurred. The city pulsed.
And there it was.
The craving.
Uninvited. Unreasonable. Almost… intimate.
She leaned against the wall, hand shaking slightly as she reached into her bag then stopped.
Why now?
Behind her, the door opened.
Adrian didn't crowd her. Didn't touch her. Just stood close enough that she could feel him.
"You quit," he said, not accusing. Observing.
"Cut back," she corrected.
Silence stretched.
"You always reach for control," he added quietly. "Even your vices."
She laughed, sharp and hollow. "You analyzing me now?"
"I don't need to," he said. "You're letting me see."
That was the problem.
Nyra straightened, forcing the craving down like she'd done a thousand times before. "Don't read into things that aren't yours."
Adrian's gaze darkened not angry. Focused.
"Oh," he said softly. "I don't intend to."
But as she walked away, pulse still humming wrong in her veins, Nyra couldn't shake the feeling
Something about Adrian didn't just unsettle her.
It activated old instincts.
Old habits.
Old poison she thought she'd left behind.
And somewhere deep in the quiet between them, Adrian realized something too
Getting close to Nyra wasn't about domination.
It was about proximity.
And proximity was already doing damage.